2. 2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:29 pm on 21 March 2017.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 2:29, 21 March 2017

Well, I’m glad that the Member for Cardiff Central has drawn attention to Designed to Smile. It has been mentioned on the media over the last 24 hours, recognising that England falls behind Wales in terms of our initiative. I think it’s worth just looking at that reduction as a result of Designed to Smile, which is what we have taken forward: the 2014-15 dental survey of five-year-olds shows a further 6 per cent reduction in the proportion of children with experience of dental decay in Wales when compared with the previous survey undertaken in 2011-12. That’s the first and significant sustained improvement in dental caries prevalence experienced by children in Wales since records began, and it is attributed to the focus and effort of the Designed to Smile programme. And, of course, it needs to go beyond that particular initiative, which has seen that welcome reduction, and has actually dealt with issues in terms of health inequalities. But we have to go beyond that, to look at prevention in the wider public health perspective, in terms of reducing that access to sugary drinks and cereal. I always remember when we introduced the pioneering free school breakfast programme in Wales—which wasn’t supported by all parties in this Chamber—but when we established that breakfast it was based on nutrition standards, which meant that they looked at the cereal with no sugar in terms of a nutritious start to the day. It wasn’t just a free school breakfast, it was a free nutritious school breakfast. And I’m sure that has also contributed to the success in terms of reducing dental decay in children in Wales.